Queen Mathilde of the Belgians was born Mathilde Marie Christine Ghislaine d'Udeken d'Acoz on 20th January 1973 to parents, Count Patrick and Countess Anna d'udekem d'Acoz. So whilst not royal Mathilde's father side is a noble family of Belgium. Her mother's side hails from a noble family of the now defunct royal family of Poland (although they still retain their titles).
Mathilde comes from a large family with three younger sisters and a younger brother. Her siblings are Marie-Alix (who died in a car crash with the grandmother in 1997), Margavine Elisabeth, Baroness Helene and Count Charles-Henri. Unfortunately her father died on 25th September 2008 just 5 months after Mathilde's youngest child was born.
Unlike a lot of royals and those who married into royal families Mathilde's education has always remained within Belgium. She attended secondary school in Brussels and went on to become a speech therapist graduating with honours. She only worked as a speech therapist for 4 years before becoming the future queen of Belgium. After marrying Prince Philippe she earned a degree in Psychology in 2002, again graduating with honours.
Mathilde also speaks a number of languages; French, English, Dutch and Italian.
On 4th December 1999 Mathilde married Prince Philippe of Belgium, Duke of Brabant the heir apparent to the Beglian throne. She became Princess Mathilde of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant and the future queen. They have four children together:
1). Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant (25th October 2001)
2). Prince Gabriel (20th August 2003)
3). Prince Emmanuel (4th October 2005)
4). Princess Eleonore (16th April 2008)
Queen Mathilde has many official royals. In particular she has attended the World Economic Forum in Davos since 2007, President of Unicef Belgium since 2009 and World Health's Organisation special representation for immunisation. She is a patron of nine charities including her own and presides over the King Baudouin International Development Prize.
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